


Are You My Mother?

by SunnyWrites



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Fluff, North is everyone's mom, Theta is adorable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2015-04-09
Packaged: 2018-03-22 00:44:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3708879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunnyWrites/pseuds/SunnyWrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Theta has some questions for North.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Are You My Mother?

"What are your parents like?" asked Theta brightly, his little body glimmering as he peered down at North, who lay on his back in his bunk, his hands folded behind his head and a soft smile on his lips. The room was quiet, the light turned off. The clock inside the room announced that that it was too late to be awake, though in all honesty everything always looked the same in space. If someone changed the all the clocks North was pretty sure that no one would notice. He was also pretty sure that he should have been asleep. As far as he was concerned it was shaping up to be a pretty good night. Theta wasn't having nightmares and the only thing to look forward to the next day was drills. No life or death missions. Hopefully that'd last. But if Theta wasn't having bad dreams then he had questions and who was he to stand in the way of a curious AI and the pursuit of knowledge? 

This was a particularly strange question for Theta. The AI never asked about personal things like that. They'd never been told that it wasn't allowed, but North had always assumed it wasn't. He'd also assumed that Theta just knew everything about him. They shared a brain after all. Apparently Theta didn't pick his mind as much as he'd thought. "What makes you ask that?" he hummed, blinking up at his little AI.

"Should I not have asked?" Theta mumbled, shoulders sagging. "Sorry."

"No, no, Theta. It's okay." North said quickly. He hated making Theta sad. He couldn't help feeling guilty whenever it happened. All the other fragments were so capable and adult. Theta was so fragile. North couldn't imagine any other Freelancer taking care of him. "You're not in trouble. I just wanted to know what made you think of that." AIs didn't have parents. North couldn't remember ever having a conversation about his own. Maybe he'd thought about them for a moment and Theta had picked up on it.

"South said you were just like your mom a few nights ago. Are all people just like one of their parents?" Slowly but surely, Theta was coming back out of his pink and purple shell, the interest returning to his voice. 

North couldn't help but chuckle. What a strange thing for Theta to dwell on. South had been hungover, a remnant of one of York's 'No missions tomorrow so let's get hammered' parties. They always ended the same way, with a lot of very hungover Freelancers, and two sober, tired ones, namely Maine and North himself. Maine never drank at all, claiming he didn't like the taste or something like that. North was glad. He had absolutely no desire to see Maine drunk. That sounded terrifying. North always drank a little, but never enough to get drunk. After all, it was his job to take care of his darling sister once the ludicrous amount of alcohol caught up with her. 

It had been while taking care of her that she had mumbled that he was just like their mom. North wasn't sure if it had been a compliment or an insult. Their mother had been an angel, but South had said it with drunken disdain. Though, in all fairness, South said everything with drunken disdain. He had decided to take it as a compliment. "Not all people are just like their parents. I don't know if I'm just like my mom." North said, turning to lay on his side, Theta appearing cross-legged on his pillow. 

"Well, what is your mom like?" prompted the AI, leaning forward. North could almost see the wide-eyed curiosity behind the colorful little helmet.

Admittedly, it was strange to actually think about his parents. His life had been so focused on other things for so long. He almost felt guilty. He hadn't been able to call on birthdays or holidays for years. "Well," he sighed, "My mom's really sweet. Maybe she was a little overzealous when South and I were kids. She always dressed us alike. Lots of matching outfits for first day of school pictures. You wouldn't believe how much South hated it...actually, you'd probably believe it. Heart of gold though. Whenever one of us got sick, she'd take the day off and just make sure we were okay. She was a very devoted lady." He smiled at the AI fragment who shifted on his pillow, bright with energy and interest. "She wasn't happy with us when we joined up. Our dad was a soldier. He died when we were little. As you can imagine, she was very against the idea of us following in his footsteps."

"I didn't know that your dad was dead...I'm sorry." Theta said, his glow dimming, obviously worried he'd upset North.

"It's fine. It was a long time ago. If you want to know what he was like, you'll have to ask South. I don't remember much about him at all. She remembers more. She's got a great memory. Anyway, you wanted to know about mom." With a small sigh, North bit his lower lip, trying to conjure up memories he hadn't thought of in what felt like ages. "She always had some kind of master plan. Or at least, it felt like she was ready for everything. When dad died, she sat me down and told me that I was the man of the house and I had to take care of my sister. I thought that was weird at the time. I already took care of her. We were never apart. I get it now. South was more torn up than I was. I just didn't know it at the time. Mom did though. She could always tell whenever something was wrong and knew just how to fix it or make it a little better." His smile was back at these memories. If they were ever allowed on leave, he'd take South and they'd go visit her. She deserved better than two children who never called. 

"I think South was right." Theta said after a pause, scooting a bit closer to North.

"About what, buddy?" North hummed, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the AI's light.

"You are just like your mom." Theta replied with a triumphant nod, crossing his arms as though he had the final say in the matter and was proud of his decision. North couldn't help but laugh, a warm, deep sound that filled the room and made Theta sparkle happily. "You're like everybody's mom, though. Not just South's." continued the AI. "You worry about everyone."

"I'm sure that you're not the only one to think that." North said, reaching out a finger to bop the place where Theta's noes would have been. "I'm okay with being Project Freelancer's mom. Someone's got to do it."

Theta giggled, actually giggled. North could feel the innocent happiness filling his mind. It was infectious. How could he not be happy when Theta was so positive? "So..." mumbled the AI, rubbing the place on his visor that North's finger had gone through. "Does that mean you're my mom too? I mean, you keep all the bad thoughts away, and never pull me, and walk the halls with me when I'm scared, and are proud of me when I show you the new tricks I've learned. So...you can be my mom too, right?"

So that was why Theta had been so curious. Sometimes it was easy to forget just how childlike the AI was. Sure, North always thought of him as young, but not too young to go into the field with him. Not too young to be self-sufficient. Old enough to not need parents. And yet there were moments like this. The AI before him wasn't some cool and calculating entity like Delta, or cunning and powerful like Sigma. No, this was a child, quick to trust and so shy, who was alone in the world, wondering where his creator, his alpha, was and why it wasn't there to take care of him. Of course Theta would cling to the idea of a mother. Someone to take care of him and praise him and protect him. Of course he'd pair that idea with the agent who he shared a brain with. There was only one answer North could give. He didn't even need to think about it.

"Of course I can be your mom, Theta." he said gently, reaching out a hand for his AI. Theta didn't hesitate to climb on, sitting down gingerly and glowing with happiness. 

"Good." Theta mumbled, trying to hide the relief in his voice.

North chuckled once more, closing his eyes. "Okay, Theta. I've got to get some sleep or sparring is going to go very poorly tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, North." Theta said, pausing before adding, "I can still wake you up if I get scared, right?" 

"Yeah, bud." yawned the Freelancer, wrapping his blankets around himself and feeling sleep wash over him as Theta winked out, taking up residence in the back of the his mind. "After all, what are moms for?"


End file.
